


Light 'em Up

by 0bviousLeigh



Series: Yuma is a Girl [24]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Card Games, Gender or Sex Swap, Other, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2019-01-25 14:14:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12533412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0bviousLeigh/pseuds/0bviousLeigh
Summary: Cynical as Yuma may be, it’s hard not to get excited as she and her friends run into Heartland’s stadium. It’s absolutely huge, the kind of stage that Yuma has fantasized about since she was a child. She’ll be standing on that stage, for all of Heartland to see, finally a duelist who is worthy of respect. She wishes her mom and dad could be here to see it.





	Light 'em Up

**Author's Note:**

> This is the part that involves the most episodes at once, episodes 51-56. The main difference between this and canon is that in this rewrite, Yuma didn’t blunder into all of those trap points. Now I’m no duelist and I don’t have the patience to figure out how that would affect her life points so just…don’t worry about the card games in this show about card games  
> Click [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HOD8SH9wMk) for the song Kotori and Yuma sing  
> I also referenced [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvkBvzpbBPs) during Kite and Chris’ duel

Cynical as Yuma may be, it’s hard not to get excited as she and her friends run into Heartland’s stadium. It’s absolutely huge, the kind of stage that Yuma has fantasized about since she was a child. She’ll be standing on that stage, for all of Heartland to see, finally a duelist who is worthy of respect. She wishes her mom and dad could be here to see it.

Yuma bows her head, Key clasped in her hands. She can feel Astral press against her side, and the ghost of a kiss he leaves on her cheek.

“Aw, don’t cry!” Tetsuo says gruffly. “You’ll ruin your makeup.”

“OYE!” Yuma screams, whirling on him, “I’m not wearing any makeup!”

“No, she’s just wearing the glow of _looooove,”_ Cathy trills, pawing at Yuma’s arm. “Yuma and Astral sitting in a tree…” she sings.

“We can’t sit in trees,” Yuma says, “Not while other people are around, anyway. He turns hazy whenever someone who’s not me is around.” And she’s more likely to sit in a tree with Ryoga anyway. She has yet to explain that to them—all except Kotori are still in the dark about…what she did in the dark. She holds back a giggle, but can’t stop herself from smiling.

“That’s better,” Tetsuo says with a grin. “You’ve been way too melancholy as of late. I miss seeing you smile.”

“Same,” Tokunosuke says with a nod. “We’ll be cheering you on, Yuma.” He holds out his fist, and Yuma bumps her hand against his.

“Don’t forget to watch your surroundings,” Takashi tells her sternly. “Duelists may team up and gang up on others.”

 _‘You have no idea,’_ Yuma thinks, but she says, “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” Then she turns serious, “But just in case I’m not, all the stuff in my attic is to be donated to a children’s museum, and if the Key survives whatever ends my life, y’all can do rock-paper-scissors to decide who gets to finish hunting down the Numbers.”

Everyone stares at Yuma in shock, and she smirks. “I’m not planning on dying, but you know, just in case.” She winks at Kotori, who grins at her, and then she waves to her friends. “See you guys later!” And she takes off running down to the participant’s entrance. She signs in, and an employee holds out a bag for Yuma to leave anything contraband or that she simply doesn’t want to take with her, but she left her phone with Kotori for this very purpose. Then she holds out her D-gazer so a tiny microphone can be attached to it, allowing the spectators to hear everything she says.

“This is meant to be an all-ages thing,” One man says, “So try to keep it clean.” Yuma doesn’t even answer him, because honestly, no way.

Then she’s allowed to join the rest of the participants on the open field. Yuma bursts out of the tunnel, holds out her arms and spins, looking up at the sky. Her heart’s racing and her whole body is tingling, she’s never felt so excited before. Then she stops and looks around the field, and right away her eyes land on Tron.

She freezes, realizing that Tron is staring in her direction, and Astral whispers, “It’s not you he’s looking at, it’s me.”

Well, it’s not surprising that Tron can see Astral. Yuma turns away from the gremlin and spots a line of what look like rollercoaster cars in the center of the field. She approaches a red one that almost resembles her duel disk, and she runs her hand over the door, checks out the steering mechanisms, and pulls on the seat belts.

“This is obscene,” she says. “How are we supposed to duel in these?”

“Carefully,” says a female voice. Yuma turns and finds Droite staring hard at her. “Duel coasters are no game,” she continues.

“It’s true,” Says Gauche as he walks up to Droite. “This will be a duel that puts our lives on the line.”

Yuma frowns. “Don’t exaggerate. No one here signed a release form agreeing not to sue Heartland if something goes wrong, so unless the city wants a bunch of lawsuits on their hands, I’m sure it’s not that dangerous.”

A sudden burst of screaming causes Yuma to jump and she looks around. Thomas has just walked onto the field. He smiles and waves, and Yuma looks somewhere else, anywhere else, and she finds Ryoga. Her still-racing heart skips a beat, and she dashes over to him.

“Incoming!” She screams, and Ryoga turns around just as Yuma crashes into him.

Ryoga stumbles back, catching his balance just in time. “What the heck?” He grunts as Yuma laughs in his ear, “We could have both fallen!”

“Then I guess we’d have been putting on a show, eh?” Yuma says, giving Ryoga a wink. She backs away reluctantly, not sure if she should out her relationship with Ryoga just yet. She spots Kite out of the corner of her eye, and frowns when she sees Orbital with him. “I told that scrap heap to stay put,” she says.

Ryoga catches where she’s looking. “Kite thought it would be weird if Orbital didn’t show up with him today.” He keeps his voice low, and he barely moves his lips. “He said it’s unlikely to happen, but Heartland might have tried to hack Orbital to find Hart. You remember Sayaka? She’s with Hart now.”

Yuma relaxes—Sayaka is Rio and Ryoga’s former nanny. “Okay, I guess that’s okay.” She pushes her hair back and frowns at Thomas as he milks the crowd for all it’s worth.

Ryoga looks around at Thomas and asks, “He didn’t say anything to you, did he?”

Yuma shakes her head. “No, I just…I hate that everyone loves him.” She frowns. “What does he have going for him, honestly? He’s not even that good looking.”

Ryoga snorts. “Forgive me if I don’t trust your opinion on that one.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Yuma squawks, crossing her arms. “I’ll have you know I have excellent taste in men!”

Ryoga smirks at her. “Your track record includes a drugged-up grave robber and a baby-stealer who lives with goblins.”

Oh, he is totally flirting with her! Well, Yuma’s not one to back down. She pokes his forehead. “I’ll have you know that I happen to have two very attractive boyfriends.”

“I beg to differ,” Ryoga says. He keeps his voice low. “I’ve never seen Astral, but I bet he’s way better looking than your other boyfriend.”

Oh god. Yuma’s jaw drops. “Are you flirting with Astral now, too?”

“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Ryoga says with mock-innocence.

Ugh, she wants to kiss that smug look off his face. “I didn’t tell anyone except Kotori that I…that we…about last night,” she finally says. “I plan to, but I want to know how you would feel about it first.”

Ryoga looks briefly worried. “I just don’t want you to get hurt,” he says, looking around the field.

“I can take care of myself,” Yuma says, squaring her shoulders. “Besides, I’m already a bigger target than you could ever make me. You think an awful lot of yourself, you know.”

Ryoga laughs. “Oh, do I?”

Yuma grabs Ryoga by the collar of his shirt and hauls him close to her. She feels a brief wave wash over her, something familiar and terrifying that makes the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, but she ignores it in favor of kissing Ryoga right there in front of everyone.

Ryoga holds Yuma around her waist and his hair falls on to her cheek, tickling her. She reaches up to push it behind his ear and she hears a few shouts of surprise from the crowd, and some gasps from the duelists on the field.

When Ryoga leans back, Yuma grins at him. “I think we just stole the show,” she says, feeling her cheeks heat up.

“Fine by me,” Ryoga says, and he looks a little flushed, too.

“Duelists!” Comes Heartland’s voice, and nothing can ruin Yuma’s mood more than that man, “To your duel coasters!”

Ryoga holds out his arm. “Walk you there?” He asks.

It’s a short distance, but Yuma takes his arm anyway. They strut across the field with their heads held high, and before Yuma climbs into her duel coaster, she hugs Ryoga tightly.

“Stay safe,” she whispers, “But give ‘em hell.”

“You too,” he says. He makes to leave, but Yuma stops him.

“Just so you know,” she says, “I have a plan.”

Ryoga looks confused. “A plan for what?”

Yuma holds her finger to her mouth and winks. “You’ll see.”

She hops into her coaster and watches Ryoga walk away. “Astral, did you feel that earlier?”

From the corner of her eye, she sees Astral nod. “Kite stopped time very briefly.”

Yuma rolls her eyes. “That idiot is going to blow this whole thing.”

Heartland starts explaining how the duel coasters work, how the duels will work in this unique arena, and how the heart pieces will serve as the thing that starts the duel coaster.

Yuma smirks. She pats the pockets of her vest. “Now where did I put that dang thing?” She asks herself.

“Duelists, get ready!” Heartland cries.

“Aha!” Yuma says triumphantly, pulling out a nail file. She starts working on her right index finger, winking at Droite, who gives her an astounded look. “I never have time to do this shit at home, you know?” She says with a laugh.

Heartland starts counting down. Yuma moves on to her middle finger and has to resist holding it high in the direction of the giant hologram of Heartland.

The other coasters take off. Yuma works on her pinky nail.

When Yuma is satisfied with her nails, she puts the file away and drapes herself dramatically across the coaster seats. “Oh no,” she says, hanging her head out of the coaster and looking upside-down at the crowd, “I seem to have forgotten my heart pieces. Oh, woe is me, who shall save me?” She has to pinch her own leg so she won’t giggle.

“She’s coming,” Astral says.

Yuma turns her head and sees Kotori running out on to the field. “I’ve got it!” Kotori screams.

Yuma grins and sits up. She can’t see any coasters in the vicinity, and if she hasn’t missed them entirely, then maybe she’s fooled the Fallguys into thinking she’s not a threat.

Kotori approaches, and Yuma holds out her hand for the heart pieces, but Kotori trips at the last moment and falls into the coaster. Yuma grabs Kotori around the waist to steady her, and the frame with the heart pieces goes clattering onto the dashboard of the coaster. Yuma slams her hand down on the frame so it doesn’t fall, and ends up slamming it right into the slot that activates the coaster.

Yuma flings Kotori into the seat next to her. The seatbelts snap into place, and the coaster takes off.

Kotori shrieks.

“Sorry!” Yuma cries as she grabs for the controls. “I knew there wasn’t time to get you out but there was enough time to make sure your seatbelt would be fastened!”

Kotori looks around frantically. “Is this even allowed?!” She asks.

“As director of this tournament,” comes Heartland’s voice, “I shall allow Ms. Yuma to take a passenger along for the ride, though the coasters were not built for two people.”

Yuma grits her teeth. “If they weren’t built for two people then why are there two seats and seatbelts for two? You lying, slimy, sonuva—”

“Yuma look out!” Kotori screams.

Yuma changes lanes just before she can hit a trap card—she’s already getting distracted—and the rush as the car jumps and then slams down on the track makes Yuma scream with delight.

“What a blast!” She cries. She turns to Kotori. “You okay there, girl friend?”

Kotori looks like she’s about to have a heart attack.

Yuma puts an arm around her shoulders. “Sorry,” She yells over the rush of the wind, “I know this wasn’t part of the plan.”

“It’s okay,” Kotori says. She manages a smile, “This is an adventure, right? And now maybe I can help you stay calm.”

“Perfect!” Yuma says, “You can sing Magic Dance to me. Oh,” she smirks, “And tell me, how did everyone react when I kissed my new boyfriend?”

Kotori lets out a shriek of laughter. “Oh my god, they were beside themselves!”

The two of them lean into each other, laughing hysterically. Kotori catches her breath and whispers to Yuma, “So is he a good kisser?”

They burst into giggles again, only to break off with screams as something rams into them from behind.

“YOU FUCKING IDIOT!” Yuma screams, whirling around and giving the driver behind her a glare strong enough to make him falter. “Go sit on a pair of scissors!” She yells at him.

“Yuma in front of us!” Kotori yells.

Yuma looks around—these can only be the Fallguys. Shit, they waited for her? “Creeps,” she mutters. “Hang on, Kotori, shit’s about to get real!”

Yuma struggles to fend off attacks from all three duelists at once, keep control of her car, and strategize at the same time. She knows she can jump lanes to avoid attacks, but the trio of nightmares have her boxed in. If she were alone she might risk it anyway, but she refuses to put Kotori’s life in danger, and she thinks Kotori can sense it and feels guilty for it.

“Chin up,” Yuma says as she plays Gogogo Golem. “Whatever happens here, we both did our best.”

Yuma’s plans don’t work out, and as she braces for a direct attack, she’s suddenly saved by a gigantic train.

“Hi, Yuma!” Shouts, of all people, Anna.

“You!” Yuma shrieks, pointing at the girl, “What are you doing here?!”

“I snuck into the tournament,” Anna says, unabashedly. “I never got to apologize to you for the case of mistaken identity, and so I decided to make it up to you.”

“But how? You said you weren’t participating!” Yuma says.

Anna waves her hand. “I tied up a participant and took their heart pieces.”

“Anna!” Kotori screams, “That’s illegal!”

But Yuma lets out a hoot of laughter. “Everything in this tournament is illegal,” she says. “I like your style, Anna!”

Anna seems to blush, and then she’s on the defense as one of the opponents goes after her. For a while, Yuma and Anna are both on the ropes, until they’re joined by another ally Yuma never expected.

“Gauche?!” Yuma gasps as he pulls into a lane beside her.

“Don’t question it,” Gauche says.

Yuma laughs. “Well okay, then!” At least now they’re evenly matched, three-on-three.

They take out two duelists, but the third guy flees before a crushing blow can be dealt. As he runs, Yuma grumbles. “Coward, didn’t even have the guts to face defeat.” She twists around and looks at Anna. “So what’s next for you? Gonna see if you can stick around for the rest of the tournament?”

Before Anna can answer, Kotori lets out a scream. “He’s back, he’s back!”

Yuma looks ahead—the third duelist is back, and heading right towards her. She can’t switch lanes, it’s too late. Anna jumps down on Yuma’s duel coaster, summons a monster, and takes the direct attack that was meant for Yuma. She’s sent flying, but is saved by her own flying contraption. Yuma then finishes off the cowardly duelist, and narrowly avoids a collision with his duel coaster.

“So many lawsuits,” Yuma says through gritted teeth. “I’m going to take everything this city has.”

“Good luck, Yuma!” Anna screams.

Yuma and Kotori both wave at her, and Gauche warns Yuma to be on her toes. Then, the daylight disappears as they go into the underground.

“Just how much money and labor went into building this monstrosity?” Yuma asks. “It goes on forever.”

Kotori reaches for the screen on the dashboard and taps away. “There’s a map,” she says. “We’re back here…”

Suddenly, Heartland’s voice rings out. “Fourteen duelists left, and now they face the challenge of dueling in the four underground arenas! Magma, Jungle, Space, and Canyon. Pick your opponents wisely, duelists! _Heeeeeeeeeart burning!”_

“That’s not even grammatically correct,” Yuma says as Heartland’s voice rings around her.

“You’re in last place,” Kotori says worriedly. “Will you be able to duel in these fields?”

Yuma shrugs. “I won’t look for an opponent, seeing as how I am in last place, but if someone wants to battle me I won’t turn them down. Seems poor planning, since there’s fourteen of us but only eight can duel in the fields. What, did they not expect that many people to get this far? And why can’t more than one pair of duelists face off against each other?”

In the time it’s taken her to complain, Gauche has knocked another duelist out of the match. Yuma breaks hard and veers to a left-turn track to avoid a trap card.

Kotori whoops and puts her hands up. “It’s like a real roller coaster!” She grins at Yuma. “You know what this reminds me of?”

Yuma grins, and together they sing, _“Soko da suru dake no ai na to omoi mitte, Dakedo muri shite dounika tsunaide!”_

They break off with giggles. Yuma wishes she could just focus on the fun of the tournament, but then Gauche challenges Chris to a duel.

“Oh crap,” she whispers, “Not even that old man deserves to get knocked around by Chris.” She has a sudden, horrible thought. “Kotori! Where is Thomas? I mean IV.”

Kotori checks the map. “He’s in…” she lets out a slightly hysterical snort. “Fourth place.” The two of them have a short laugh over that, and Yuma even hears Astral join in, but then Kotori gasps, “And your boyfriend is right behind him!”

Yuma lets out a yelp. “Okay, here we go! Time to take care of my man!” Then under her breath she adds, “One of them, anyway.”

“Yuma, IV’s heading right for the magma field!” Kotori cries.

Yuma groans. “Ryoga’s gonna follow him right into it and be at a disadvantage because of his water deck! For god’s sake, that boy drives me up a wall!”

In her anger, she accidentally blunders into a trap—but it’s a good trap. She can do a coin toss, and regain life points if she tosses heads.

“I’m gonna do it.” She holds out her hand a coin materializes. “KATTOBINGU!”

It’s heads—she recovers 2000 life points.

“WOOHOO!” She screams. She sits back down and takes off, but not for Ryoga.

“Where are we going?” Kotori asks.

“To save ass and kick it, too!” Yuma says.

She comes up on Gauche and Chris just as Chris is about to send Gauche to kingdom come. She blocks Chris’ attack, and though she can tell she pisses Chris off for daring to affect his life points, the mop-headed kidnapper doesn’t retaliate, instead taking a sudden turn.

Yuma brings her coaster to a halt.

“What are you doing?” Gauche demands, “Why aren’t you going after V?”

Yuma twists around. “Mind your own business,” she says. “You saved my butt, and I saved yours. Now there’s a trap—” she points in the direction, “That way, which can give you back life points if you toss a coin and get heads. You might want to try your luck at it.” She puts her coaster back in gear. “Good luck!” She yells as she and Kotori take off.

“Heart burning!” Mr. Heartland screams about something.

“Every time he says that, you take a drink,” Yuma says. Then she realizes, “Oh…Tron took out three people, and Thomas and my boyfriend each took out another. Now there’s eight people left.” She throws her hands up. “Okay, so maybe the planning was a little better than I initially thought.”

Kotori clicks through the map. “Yuma, Droite is dueling Tron!”

“Where?” Yuma demands.

“The jungle field!”

So Yuma heads to the jungle field. She may not be on good terms with Droite, but this woman clearly doesn’t know what she’s getting herself into.

 

* * *

 

 

Yuma arrives in the jungle field and tells Kotori to stay with the coaster—she doesn’t need Tron getting his evil eyes on her. Yuma approaches the duel just in time to hear Droite say that she’ll never allow Tron to get near Kite, because she loves Kite too much to see his beautiful smile snuffed out by the likes of someone like Tron.

Yuma ducks behind a tree and holds her hand over her heart. Droite…is in love with Kite? Does Kite feel the same? Not from what she’s seen of Kite, who doesn’t seem to love anyone but his brother. Yuma feels like her heart is breaking…how sad, to be in love with someone to the point that you’d face a monster like Tron, but not have your feeling reciprocated.

“Oh,” Tron says, “How about I steal your memories, Ms. Droite?”

Yuma bursts out from behind the tree in time to see some kind of light fly from Tron’s eyes and hit Droite squarely in the face. She gets a dazed look about her, and her eyes become glassy.

Yuma races to Droite’s side and shakes her. “Snap out of it, woman!” She screams. “That gremlin has no power over you! Say it, tell him he has no power over you! You have to go on for Kite’s sake!”

Droite blinks, and her eyes refocus. “Kite,” she says fiercely. She shoves Yuma aside, and attacks Tron once more.

Unfortunately, her fighting spirit doesn’t last. Tron sets the jungle on fire, breaks Droite’s spirit, and steals her memories anyway.

Yuma barely manages to catch Droite as she falls to the ground. Tron walks off, saying that memories of love aren’t tasty at all, and warns Yuma that he’ll consume her heart next. Yuma ignores the gremlin in favor of easing Droite to the ground. Her hair is a mess, so Yuma combs her fingers through it.

“Easy now,” Yuma says softly. “You’re okay.” Droite looks much younger than Yuma originally thought.

Droite takes Yuma’s hand and squeezes it feebly. “Tell him…not to forget me,” she whispers.

Yuma presses Droite’s hand to her cheek. “Don’t you worry,” she says, “I’ll make sure he never forgets you.”

Droite’s head falls back and her eyes close. Yuma lays her on the ground and arranges her hands over her stomach. She doesn’t know what else to do, and can only hope someone will come get her. It’s not as if Yuma can take Droite into her own duel coaster.

“You’ve done all you can,” Astral says, his hands on Yuma’s shoulders.

Yuma nods and stands up. She walks back to the duel coaster and Kotori.

“What happened?” Kotori asks.

Yuma shakes her head. “I have a message to pass on to Kite,” she says. “So Ryoga is going to have to wait a while.”

 

* * *

 

The space field is absolutely bonkers. As soon as Yuma enters it, her duel coaster goes haywire and she can’t control it. The coaster crashes onto the duel field, and Yuma grabs on to Kotori as they fall, surrounded by smoke and dust. When the debris clear, Kite and Chris are staring down at them.

Yuma sits up and rubs her head. She glares at Chris. “You know, hair that long is dangerous on a rollercoaster, your whole head could get yanked off.” She gets to her feet and walks up to Kite. “I’ve got news for you,” she says. “Droite is gone.”

Kite blinks at her. “Gone?” He repeats.

Yuma nods. “Tron…he defeated her, and he did something horrible to her. Took her memories, or something, I don’t know how it’s possible.” She grabs Kite by his collar and shakes him. “She was in love with you, her last word was your name,” she says through tears, “Why weren’t you there for her?!”

“You don’t know everything!” Kite snaps. “I…she had someone else. Someone who loved her more than I ever could.”

Yuma stares at him. “Who?” She asks.

Kite takes Yuma’s hands. “I know how she felt about me, but she was wrong to. She was in love with someone I could never be, I was waiting for her to realize it, and to see that there was someone better for her.” He stares into Yuma’s eyes. “Someone who was always by her side.”

It takes a second, but Yuma realizes who Kite is talking about. Still…

“She wanted to keep you from facing Tron, because she wanted you to keep smiling,” Yuma says, shaking herself free of Kite’s grasp. “Rather than push her away, you should have just been honest with her. She’s gone now and—” Yuma breaks off as she sobs. She covers her mouth and turns away from Kite. Kotori puts her arms over Yuma’s shoulders.

“Tsukumo Yuma,” Chris says softly. “Kazuma’s daughter, and Faker and Tron’s sons. Here we all are, gathered in one place. It must be fate.”

“There’s no such thing as fate!” Yuma screams, “And I’ve got a bone to pick with you—just who the hell do you think you are that you have the right to say my father’s name?! How dare you?! You child-stealing bastard, Kite’s going to wipe the floor with that stupid hair of yours and make you pay for what you did to Hart!” She raises her fists. “But not before I kick your ass for what you said. My father is in Astral world?! I don’t believe a word out of your mouth!”

“Yuma, shut up,” Kite snaps, “We were in the middle of a duel and I would like very much to get back to it! Shouldn’t you be fighting your own duel?”

“Kite,” Chris says, calm for someone who Yuma just threw insults at, “This story concerns you, too. Don’t you want to know why Tron was interested in Hart?”

Kite grinds his teeth together so loud Yuma can hear it. Chris seems to take that as the okay to carry on.

“Five years ago, my father, Byron Arclight, was partnered with Dr. Faker in the search for alternate realities. They heard of an explorer, Tsukumo Kazuma, who claimed to have gone to another world. They managed to get Kazuma to agree to a meeting, where they pooled their knowledge. My father and Faker thought they had created an algorithm to find the gateway to the alternate worlds, but Kazuma told them that their algorithm was missing pieces. Together, the three of them found the doorway to the alternate worlds, and they made plans to go to the doorway.”

Doorway…Yuma thinks back to the dreams and visions she’s had over the past few months, of a giant door that promised her great power in exchange for the thing she loved most.

“What happened next was told to me by my father when he returned to us,” Chris continues. “They journeyed for three days to find the doorway. They passed through ancient ruins, with Kazuma guiding them past traps and pitfalls. Finally, they reached the doorway to the other realities, and it was then that Faker showed his true colors. He pushed Kazuma and my father to a dead end, they were enveloped in light, and Faker revealed that the only way to open the door to the other reality was to sacrifice two souls to the door. Kazuma tried to save himself and my father, but in the end, they both fell.” Chris closes his eyes. “My father wandered the alternate world, feeding off of his thoughts of revenge, and while it kept him alive, it changed him, physically and mentally. He became what you see today.” Chris opens his eyes again, and glowers at Kite and Yuma. “And that’s why I will have my revenge at all costs!”

“SO YOU KIDNAPPED HART?!” Yuma shrieks. She actually shoves Kite away and gets up in Chris’ face. “Tron is psychotic, a shell, and if what I’ve heard about Byron Arclight is true, then Tron is not Byron Arclight. The man your father was would be ashamed of what Tron is, and what you—” She shoves Chris hard, “Have become by following his orders. I said the same thing to your brother when he came to see me, and he wanted to actually do something to make up for what he did. Michael thought that by sacrificing himself, he would make you wake up, but apparently not!”

She can tell Chris is shaken. She shoves him again. “How dare you lay your hands on Hart?” She screams. “He trusted you to take him back to his brother! You brought him to Tron instead and let him be hurt! You stood by and watched while Hart screamed in pain! You’re a monster, your family are monsters!”

Chris grabs Yuma’s shoulders and squeezes. “If Faker had never betrayed him, I’d still have a family!”

Yuma twists out of his grasp. “Cool motive, still illegal!” She screams. “You don’t see me torturing little kids, do you?! You disgust me.” She turns to Kite. “Have you got anything to add?”

Kite holds out his arm. “Move aside, I have a duel to finish.”

Yuma shrugs. “Eh, not what I was going for, but fine.”

But any chance of Kite’s victory seems dashed when Chris summons Numbers 9, Dyson Sphere.

“A monster so big is covers the sun itself,” Chris says as the behemoth rises behind him. “That ability alone makes it without match. All attacks are useless.”

Yuma, who has been gaping at the machine, snaps back to her senses. “BULLCRAP!” She screams, making everyone jump. “It’s a hologram you mophead! Good god, it can’t actually cover the sun! Besides, the bigger they are the harder they fall!”

Chris ignores her. “When Dyson Sphere has overlay units attached, it negates all attacks.”

Okay, so maybe Yuma spoke too soon.

“But I know it’s effect now!” Kite says.

“Oh, do you?” Chris asks, tauntingly. “Don’t forget that I know how you think. You learned all you know from me, after all.”

Yuma’s jaw drops.

“I’m aware,” Kite says. “But I changed. Just as you think you know who I am, I thought I knew you.”

“I won’t let you stand in my way!” Chris snarls. And he proceeds to kick the ever-loving crap out of Kite. He’s blown backwards by his own attack, skids across the floor, and lands in a crumpled heap. Yuma and Kotori scream in horror.

“You only have 200 life points left,” Chris says. “You should just give up.”

“SHUT YOUR FILTHY MOUTH!” Yuma shrieks at Chris. She dashes across the field and kneels by Kite’s side. “Come on, stand up,” she says, grabbing Kite’s arm and hauling him to his feet.

“I don’t need your pity,” Kite hisses.

“Fuck you,” Yuma says. “It’s not pity.” Then she flinches. “Oh, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t curse at you. Of course you wouldn’t know friendship when it smacks you across the face, because your last friend was a FUCKING SENTIENT MOP!” She screeches the last part in Chris’ direction.

“How shocking,” Chris says. “You treat Kite as a friend. He’s the son of the man who took your father from you, and he’s a Numbers hunter.”

“I know who Kite is!” Yuma growls. “I know what he is. He’s a boy who loves his brother with all his heart, who was lied to and pushed into a corner by people like you, who were bigger, stronger, and more powerful than he was. I don’t give a damn about Kite’s relationship to Dr. Faker. Kite had nothing to do with any of that and neither did Hart! What the hell are you in this tournament for?!” She throws her arms out. “Do you see Dr. Faker here? I only see his son, and if we judge all kids by the sins of their parents, then boy do you have shit to answer for! I judge you, and I hate you, but I did that before I knew about your father, because you showed me your true colors when you took Hart. You show them to me now, as you berate Kite and put him down in the name of vengeance, a vengeance that has nothing to do with Kite. I hate your father, you, and Thomas, and I hated Michael too, until he came to me and apologized, and showed me that he wanted to be better than his family. I forgave Michael, and I forgive Kite, too.”

She turns to Kite. “Actually, you never did apologize to me for scaring the crap out of me that one night in the rain, or for hacking my key, or for yelling at me outside the museum. But you watched Labyrinth for me so I guess that makes us even.”

Kite’s mouth twitches the way that it does when he tries not to smile. Yuma laughs and leans into him, slinging her arm around his shoulders and tugging him down. “After all that, do you still not see that you’re my friend?”

Kite bites his lip. “I still don’t know what will become of Hart, if I’ll need the Numbers to save him…”

“Hey, none of that,” Yuma scolds, knocking her knuckles gently on the side of Kite’s head. “What did we learn about the Numbers? Besides, according to this jerk, Hart’s power is gone, I know we can’t exactly trust him, but if that’s the case, then all Hart needs to do is open his eyes.”

“True,” Kite agrees, “But it does seem rather hopeless in that respect.”

“There’s no such thing as hopelessness,” Yuma says. “I believe in you the same way I believe in Hart, and Rio, and Ryoga.” She gently wipes a bit of dirt off Kite’s cheek. “You must have been so hurt by Chris. What happened, that made him go from your teacher to your enemy?”

Kite glowers. “He left. I followed him into the rain, I begged him to tell me why, but he never did. He pushed me aside and left me there…”

And something in his voice makes Yuma’s heart stop. She thinks she gets it now. She backs away from Kite and lets him fight.

But he’s thrown back again, down to 100 life points after another ruthless attack. And Chris taunts him further.

“Give up, and you’ll be released from all pain—pain of being a Numbers hunter, of having a brother like Hart.”

Yuma’s jaw damn near hits the floor. “OOOOOH!” She screams, “NOW YOU FUCKED UP! Now ya fucked up! NOW you have fucked up! You have fucked up now!”

“I have never,” Kite says, “In my life, thought of Hart as causing me pain. He’s my only reason to live and I won’t let you be the one to keep us apart!”

Yuma laughs, “Now you fucked up, now you fucked up, now you fucked up, now you fucked up, now you fucked up, NOW YOU HAVE FUCKED UP!”

And Kite plays a card that his father gave him.

Chris is shocked. “You hate your father but use a card that he gave you?” He glares. “How could you?”

Yuma scoffs. “For all you talk about family, you ought to know the answer to that one.”

Kite summons Neo-Galaxy eyes, and he powers it up to something terrifying. And with that power, he attacks Numbers 9. Watching the great beast fall is…amazing. It’s horrific, but beautiful. There’s something poetic in the destruction of something so huge and invincible-looking. In one attack, Kite decimates Chris’ life points, and beats him.

Chris lies on the ground, and Yuma and Kite approach him.

“So, this is your strength?” Chris asks Kite. “I see.” He sighs. “Kite, I tried to stop my father, but his heart was consumed with rage and I wasn’t strong enough.” He laughs sadly. “I guess I follow him because…the bond between parent and child is inescapable.”

“You’re wrong,” Kite says. “I fight my father every day of my life, and someday I’ll make him pay for what he did.” He looks up and meets Yuma’s eyes. “For what he did to all of those he hurt.”

“So, you’ve become that strong?” Chris asks. A swirling mass of galaxy-print opens up in the ground under him, and as he disappears he whispers, “I’m sorry.”

For a moment, Yuma and Kite stare at the empty ground. Then Yuma sits back and looks up at the space field’s sky, where stars glimmer. “I’m not sure I forgive him,” she says. “It’s kind of cheating, to say sorry and then disappear.”

“Yuma…” Kite says, “Do you truly think of me as a friend?”

Yuma frowns. “Do I have to kiss you for you to believe me?”

Kite rolls his eyes. “No.”

Yuma takes his hand. “Listen, we’ll find a way to help Hart without the Numbers. But first, let’s get Tron out of the way, yeah?”

Kite nods. He seems to hesitate for a moment, then he says, haltingly, “I really am sorry. For what I put you through.”

Yuma’s jaw drops. “Oh wow,” she says. “Well…I forgive you.”

Kite nods. His duel coaster materializes, and Yuma’s appears as well. Kite hops in his coaster and takes off, but Yuma stares at her own coaster in shock.

“I don’t know what’s more surprising,” she says. “That thing showing up out of nowhere, or Kite giving me a genuine apology.”

Kotori elbows Yuma. “I’m more surprised that Chris didn’t seem to know you and Kite had already teamed up,” she whispers.

Yuma grins. “And that means it’s working.”

“So, what now?” Kotori asks.

“I still want to find my other boyfriend,” Yuma says. “I guess then I’ll go find Gauche, since he’s the only person I assume who still needs to duel.”

“I meant more long term,” Kotori says. “What are you going to do about Hart?”

Yuma climbs into her duel coaster and Kotori follows her. “As for that,” Yuma says as she puts the coaster in gear, “I’m thinking I find Dr. Faker, tell him that he killed my father and he needs to die, get him to point me in the direction of the Barian that he dealt with, find the Barian, challenge it to a game of wits with Hart’s health on the line, and then stump the Barian by asking it what I have in my pocket.”

Kotori frowns. “That’s not a plan, that’s just a bunch of movie references strung together!”

“Hey, I’m still working on making it through this tournament!” Yuma says, “Give me a break on the finer details of the future!”

The two of them coast through the tunnels, and Kotori glances at Yuma. “By the way…do you have a crush on Kite?”

Yuma almost chokes. “Whaaa? Girl, how many boys do you think I need in my life?”

Kotori shrugs. “I’m not judging, just asking. You offered to kiss him, and from the way you looked at him, you seem to be, I don’t know, really invested in him.”

Yuma shakes her head. “I was kidding about the kiss, I knew he’d never agree. I am invested, but I don’t think in a romantic way. I don’t wanna join that messy triangle. Or maybe it’s a square.”

“Square?” Kotori repeats.

“Sure, Droite likes Kite, Gauche likes Droite, and Kite doesn’t like anyone because Chris broke his heart.”

“WHAT?!” Kotori yelps, “How do you know Kite liked Chris?”

“Didn’t you hear the pain in Kite’s voice when he talked about how Chris used to be his teacher? And when he said he ran after Chris, hoping for an explanation, only to be left alone in the rain?” Yuma shakes her head. “I don’t know if it was like, hero-worship or a first crush kind of love, but Kite had some sort of love for Chris, and he got his heart broken. So if you ask me, Chris owes him a better apology.” Yuma glances at the map and aims her duel coaster for Ryoga and Thomas. “And that’s why I’m not involving myself in all that mess. Even if Kite does have the most fantastic butt I’ve ever seen on a man.”

She and Kotori grin at each other. Yuma knows she’s about to throw herself into even more heartbreak, so she relishes the moment of levity before she has to watch Ryoga face his worst enemy.


End file.
